When naming something, you want to give it the right level of name. Higher names connote; lower names denote. The lower the name, the more specific, the more useful to the practicioner; but at the cost of sensibility to the less familiar.
sometimes jargon is accused of being obfuscatory and used to elevate people to a secret class; a signalling mechanism more than a communication tool. and. well. tbh i think there is a lot to this critique. however! there is a tangible benefit to jargon.
— undefined behavior (@undebeha) August 22, 2026
when someone is not familiar with a word, communication fails. but it fails in a predictable and immediate way. they sit there with a blank face or ask "wtf does that word mean?"
when you use jargon, you guarantee that if someone is not familiar with the concept that you are using then they will immediately stop the conversation to get clarity. given a concept a unique new word gives you this protection
consider the alternative.
you use the plain-english word but with a *very* specific technical definition in mind. your counterpart listens, but has a *different* definition in mind. communication proceeds for a while until you notice that you are in an argument about something you thought was obvious. because you used plain english vocabulary, you missed your opportunity to carefully synchronize definitions, and to even NOTICE that you were not synchronized, and so communication failed.
jargon forces fail fast communication